Free Box Photo for April

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And continuing on with the Collections theme...this theme could last forever...look at what I found today --

What could it be?

Love the labeling.

-- a bag full of defunct snow globes, which is kind of sad, yet totally Awesome at the same time.  I am definitely going to use them for decor.  Right now I will leave them in this kiddy pool garden I made out of a dilapidated kiddy pool that, yes, my friend, Keri, found in a free box :) 

Free Box Marbling Materials

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Remember how beautiful last weekend was in Portland?  I spent Sunday with my super SCRAPpy, free boxing friend, Keri Piehl, on our round two of marbling newspapers and various vintage paper. 

During our previous marbling session a few weeks before she had told me she had found a set of marbling inks in a free box and that is what got her started down the marbling path for which she has wholeheartedly taken.  During this session she pulled those inks out and that's what we used in the beginning.

We marbled for a bit with them for a bit.  However, since Keri had first come upon these she has bought various other ink from SCRAP and she and I quickly came to realize that these were not quite the quality of her other inks.

We stopped using them and Keri put them out in the free box in front of her house, yes, back into the universe from where they came. 

 

I would say about an hour after she put them out there this lovely girl named Nadia came by and asked what we were doing.  She thought the marbling was really cool and Keri mentioned there was some ink in the free box.  Nadia was really excited and went to check them out.  She ended up taking them and was really happy.

Yet another beautiful illustration of the cyclical nature of the universe!

I would also like to mention that one of the things I ended up marbling was from a book that I got out of a free box:

It had fallen apart when I saved it from the free box.  I thought the images of the the chess game were really cool and would be great for some sort of art project.  I think I am going to use these for light switch covers.  I marbled about six of them.

Good Friday Free Boxes

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Today was a lovely day in Portland, Oregon.  I'm sure you know what that means:  free boxes!!

My first free box surprise was on SE 156th and just a little north of Powell.  I was totally surprised because I had never encountered a free box past, say, 60th.  I had to take a picture.  There were some really sweet things, actually:

It just so happened that I ran out of this issue of the zine last weekend and so I thought with the nice weather we have been having I had better print out some more.  I headed down to the IPRC and printed out a more copies.  It's a good thing I did because on my ride home up SE Madison, I saw five free boxes or items ranging from furniture to clothing to household items. 

I couldn't help but noticing that the labeling was quite superb on this little stretch.  Here are some examples:

Wall-Mount, Knives

Actually, I grabbed this knife organizer because I thought maybe I could use it as a display in my little vintage store for handkerchiefs and belts and things like that.  It was really funny because there was a little lamp in there, the kind that turns and has images and it was labeled, too, with the kind of lamp and the images it projects.  I think it was jellyfish.

Library Free Box

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Today as I was walking up to the library materials drop box, I saw these boxes of National Geographics with a free sign.  I don't think the library put them there, so maybe someone "dumped" them thinking literary minded folks would take some.  I don't know, but I thought it was pretty cool.

Free Box Boats

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My dear friend, Meghan, who contributes quite a bit to Free Box the Magazine had been telling me all of the nautical themed free boxes she has come across.  In fact, I randomly bumped into her today and the topic came up in conversation, so I thought it was very amusing when I espied this miniature boats in a free box today.

Free Box Furniture Weekend

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This past weekend was beautiful and I couldn't help but notice that Portlanders decided to take advantage of the sunshine and clean out some cobwebs, mainly in the form of furniture. 
Brandon and myself found this free pile just a block down the road from our residence in SE:

Later that evening Brandon went for a jog and came home with a lovely wicker chair:

He decided to temporarily use it for his office chair, but now it's in its rightful location out on the porch and I have to say I love it because we were in desperate need of a chair for the porch.

On Sundays I've been trying to go for long walks.  I was just outside Laurelhurst Park when I saw a woman thoroughly examine a very nice bookshelf, which she then determined was worth having a loaded it up in her car.

Much later in my walk I came upon this somewhat shiny, yet forlorn looking rocking chair on a corner just down the road from People's Coop.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and perhaps acquired a new piece of furniture!

Issue 12, Collections

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Yes, Issue 12 is finished and ready for distribution.  It is entitled "Collections" because it features collections of items found in one free box, like the box of tiles I saw today, or found over the years in many free boxes and it has now turned into your very own personal collection.

I hope one finds a free box near you!